As a fan of, and having seen all of the available Charlie Chan films, I was curious to sample another take on the genre, with "Mr. Wong, Detective" as my first sampling of the Wong series. I found the movie to have both similarities and differences to the Chan mysteries.
As far as similarities go, the first and most obvious is the casting of a non Oriental in the lead role; Boris Karloff does a credible job as Detective James Lee Wong, even though one must stretch belief to accept the characterization.
The story itself involves the inventor of a poison gas formula seeking revenge on three partners of the Dayton Chemical Company who conspire to cut him out of the profits from his invention. As with the Chan films, red herrings galore are introduced to cast suspicion in different directions. Only the exacting patience and precision of the title detective it seems, will uncover the real killer. Patience indeed is needed, as Police Captain Sam Street (Grant Withers) constantly jumps to conclusions based on clues that unfold with the investigation. His portrayal is almost over the top as he belts out commands and virtually harasses everyone he questions, including girlfriend Myra Ross (Maxine Jennings), who's secretary to Simon Dayton, President of the Dayton Chemical Company and the film's first victim.
Probably the major difference to the Charlie Chan films is the lack of comic relief, as provided by Number #1,2 and 3 Sons, and in the case of the Monogram Chan films beginning in 1944, that of chauffeur Birmingham Brown as portrayed by Mantan Moreland. This being a Monogram, the film does move more slowly than the better Chan's, and the Monogram Chan films in turn are considered inferior to the Twentieth Century Fox series.
Monogram would eventually go on to retread the secret gas formula plot in two subsequent Charlie Chan movies, 1945's "The Jade Mask" starring Sidney Toler, and 1948's "Docks of New Orleans" with Roland Winters, both films rated in the lower third of the Chan canon. Both "Mr. Wong, Detective" and "Docks of New Orleans" at least come up with clever ways that the murderer finds to administer the poison gas that claims its' victims.
Which brings me to the most glaring plot hole in "Mr. Wong, Detective". Early in the film, inventor Carl Roemer (John St. Polis) barges into Simon Dayton's office brandishing a handgun and demanding that Dayton return to him the poison gas formula, as if he would not have kept notes on such an important invention. Yet Roemer uses the very same poison gas to exact his revenge - someone wasn't paying attention!
As far as similarities go, the first and most obvious is the casting of a non Oriental in the lead role; Boris Karloff does a credible job as Detective James Lee Wong, even though one must stretch belief to accept the characterization.
The story itself involves the inventor of a poison gas formula seeking revenge on three partners of the Dayton Chemical Company who conspire to cut him out of the profits from his invention. As with the Chan films, red herrings galore are introduced to cast suspicion in different directions. Only the exacting patience and precision of the title detective it seems, will uncover the real killer. Patience indeed is needed, as Police Captain Sam Street (Grant Withers) constantly jumps to conclusions based on clues that unfold with the investigation. His portrayal is almost over the top as he belts out commands and virtually harasses everyone he questions, including girlfriend Myra Ross (Maxine Jennings), who's secretary to Simon Dayton, President of the Dayton Chemical Company and the film's first victim.
Probably the major difference to the Charlie Chan films is the lack of comic relief, as provided by Number #1,2 and 3 Sons, and in the case of the Monogram Chan films beginning in 1944, that of chauffeur Birmingham Brown as portrayed by Mantan Moreland. This being a Monogram, the film does move more slowly than the better Chan's, and the Monogram Chan films in turn are considered inferior to the Twentieth Century Fox series.
Monogram would eventually go on to retread the secret gas formula plot in two subsequent Charlie Chan movies, 1945's "The Jade Mask" starring Sidney Toler, and 1948's "Docks of New Orleans" with Roland Winters, both films rated in the lower third of the Chan canon. Both "Mr. Wong, Detective" and "Docks of New Orleans" at least come up with clever ways that the murderer finds to administer the poison gas that claims its' victims.
Which brings me to the most glaring plot hole in "Mr. Wong, Detective". Early in the film, inventor Carl Roemer (John St. Polis) barges into Simon Dayton's office brandishing a handgun and demanding that Dayton return to him the poison gas formula, as if he would not have kept notes on such an important invention. Yet Roemer uses the very same poison gas to exact his revenge - someone wasn't paying attention!